BC-AP News Coverage Advisory 10:15

Good morning! Here’s a look at how AP’s general news coverage is shaping up today. Some plans are subject to change; see the 2 p.m. News Digest for updates. You can find our contact info at the bottom of this advisory.

NOTE:

Several enterprise stories that moved recently in the Associated Press report have been resent for use during the final weeks of the year. They are listed in the separate Enterprise for Year-End Use advisory.

HIGHLIGHTING:

Among today’s coverage highlights as we see them at 10:15 a.m. EST:

— SOUTH SUDAN-VIOLENCE (sent)

— TURKEY CORRUPTION PROBE (upcoming)

— HEALTH OVERHAUL-CANCELED POLICIES (upcoming)

— HEALTHBEAT-HAND AND FACE TRANSPLANTS (upcoming)

— POLL-NEW YEARS EVE (upcoming)

— HOLIDAY SHOPPING (upcoming)

— FBN-SUPER BOWL 2014-THE ACTS (upcoming)

PHOTOS:

MYANMAR-PORTRAITS-TRIBES IN TRANSITION (sent)

SENEGAL-CHILD BEGGARS (sent)

Here are details of those stories, plus others we have in the works for today and notable pieces that we sent in the past 10 hours (all times EST):

WASHINGTON AND POLITICS

HEALTHBEAT-HAND AND FACE TRANSPLANTS – Signing up to become an organ donor is about to get more complicated than just checking a box on your driver’s license. The government is beginning to regulate the new field of hand and face transplants just like it does standard organ transplants. UPCOMING: 750 words by 4 p.m.

HEALTH CARE-GOP PRIMARIES — Republicans who want to retake control of the Senate from Democrats will first have to sort out voter uncertainty and frustration over President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul and then duel one another in a host of pre-2014 primaries. SENT. 1,015 words, photos.

POLL-NEW YEARS EVE — People are anxious to bid goodbye to 2013, a troublesome year from the corridors of power in Washington to town hall and country courthouse, a new AP-Times Square New Year’s poll shows. SENT: 1,000 words, photos. UPCOMING: 1,000 words by 2 p.m.

US

HEALTH OVERHAUL-CANCELED POLICIES – A month after President Barack Obama announced people could keep insurance policies slated for cancellation under the federal health overhaul, the reversal has gotten a mixed response from insurers, state regulators and consumers. UPCOMING: 950 words by 2 p.m.

MENTAL HEALTH ORCHESTRA — The entertainment for Burlington’s First Night celebration on New Year’s Eve will include an orchestra designed to be a musical home for people with mental illness and their supporters. SENT: 720 words, photos.

ICE STORM-POWER — Some of the 240,000 homes and businesses from Maine to Michigan and into Canada without electricity since last weekend’s ice may not get their power back for another day — or longer. SENT: 590 words. UPCOMING: 500 words by 2 p.m.

GIRL KILLED-TRASH BIN — An Ohio man is arraigned on charges in the rape and strangulation of a 9-year-old girl found dead in a trash bin at the trailer park where they were neighbors. SENT: 130 words. UPCOMING: Updates from hearing scheduled for 9:30 a.m., then 300 words by 12 p.m., photos.

BIKE TAX – Chicago is luring more people to get around on 200 miles of bike lanes and providing a new bike-sharing program. The success has one city council member calling for cyclists to pay $25 a year to city coffers. The idea drew scorn from cycling advocates but other cities have agreed to pay such fees. UPCOMING: 850 words by words by 10:30 a.m., photos.

SCHOOL SHOOTING-ARCHIVE PROJECT — Newtown officials have not thrown away the makeshift memorials that popped up last year in the wake of the massacre at the Sandy Hook Elementary school. Plans are to use the materials, perhaps in the foundation of a new Sandy Hook school or to help construct a permanent memorial to the massacre. UPCOMING: 600 words by noon, photos.

BLUES CURRICULUM- Mississippi has developed a blues curriculum for use in fourth grade state history classes. The state Arts Commission says the lessons are to help children appreciate Mississippi’s complex culture. UPCOMING: 850 words by 3 p.m., photos.

TRANSGENDER STUDENT LAW — With a law that spells out the rights of transgender students in grades K-12 set to take effect in California, school districts are reviewing training, teaching guidelines, rules and even locker room layouts. But the law could end up suspended within days of its Jan. 1 launch if a referendum to repeal it qualifies for the November ballot. UPCOMING: 950 words, photos by noon.

WORLD RECORD PEPPER – Ed Currie’s peppers are hot enough to leave even the most seasoned spicy food aficionado crimson-faced, flushed with sweat. Last month, The Guinness Book of World Records decided Currie’s peppers were the hottest on Earth. UPCOMING: 1,000 words by 3 p.m., photos.

WORLD

SOUTH SUDAN-VIOLENCE — Fighting persists in parts of South Sudan’s oil-producing region as African leaders try to advance peace talks between the country’s president and the political rivals he accuses of attempting a coup. SENT: 676 words, photos.

TURKEY-CORRUPTION PROBE — After a decade of dominance over Turkey’s political scene, a rapidly developing corruption and bribery scandal has for the first time left Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan looking off balance and not in control of the political reins. SENT: 130 words; UPCOMING: 700 words by noon, photos.

ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-UPRISING FEARS – A spate of violent Palestinian attacks on Israeli targets in recent weeks raises concerns in Israel that it may be on the verge of a new type of Palestinian uprising. The incidents appear to be a collection of individual acts, making it difficult for Israeli leaders to respond or even identify their exact cause. SENT: 900 words, photos.

SENEGAL-CHILD BEGGARS – A tragic fire that killed dozens of street beggars focuses attention on the tens of thousands of Senegalese Islamic religious pupils who are forced to double as street beggars. By Krista Larson. SENT: 1,450 words, photos.

PAKISTAN-AMERICAN ABDUCTED – A 72-year-old American development worker who was kidnapped in Pakistan by al-Qaida more than two years ago appeals to President Barack Obama a in a video released Thursday to negotiate his release, saying he feels “totally abandoned and forgotten.” By Rebecca Santana. SENT: 400 words, photo.

PAKISTAN — A suspected American drone fired two missiles at a home in a northwestern tribal region of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan, killing at least three foreign militants, Pakistani intelligence officials say. SENT: 500 words, photo.

RUSSIA-ARAFAT’S DEATH — Russian scientists say their probe has found that late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat had died of natural causes and not from radioactive poisoning. SENT: 300 words.

MYANMAR-PORTRAITS-TRIBES IN TRANSITION— Tribal ways — dress, festivals, even languages — passed down through countless generations are vanishing in the course of one as the long-isolated country of Myanmar opens its doors wider to the outside world. SENT: 1,340 words, photos.

JAPAN-YASUKUNI — Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pays his respects at a shrine honoring Japan’s war dead in a move that draws sharp rebukes from China and South Korea. SENT: 670 words, photos.

BUSINESS

TAMING ONLINE COMMENTS — Mix blatant bigotry with poor spelling. Add a dash of ALL CAPS. Top it off with a violent threat. And there you have it: A recipe for the worst of online comments, the scourge of the Internet. Some sites are banning comments altogether. UPCOMING: 1,100 words by 10:30 a.m.

HOLIDAY SHOPPING – The first numbers are in on the holiday shopping season, which has been marked by bigger discounts and smaller crowds. By Mae Anderson. UPCOMING: 600 words by 4 p.m., photos

ENTERTAINMENT

FBN-SUPER BOWL 2014-THE ACTS – A closer look at some the of entertainment acts that will perform in and around the Super Bowl in both New York and New Jersey. How will they prepare for the cold weather, and what steps need to be taken to make sure they perform at a Super level? UPCOMING: 800 words, photos

HOW TO REACH US

At the Nerve Center, Marco Mulcahy and Kellen Henry can be reached at 800-845-8450 (ext. 1600). For photos, Dan Goodman (ext. 1900). For graphics and interactives, ext. 7636. Expanded AP Content can be obtained from http://www.apexchange.com. For access to AP Exchange and other technical issues, contact apcustomersupport@ap.org or call 877-836-9477.